It’s every municipal leader’s favorite time of year. No, not the holidays – annual budget season! As deadlines approach for finalizing your financial blueprint for next year, don’t forget to allocate funding for a crucial expenditure – grants, loans, and other funding applications.
But wait, aren’t grants and loans supposed to provide funding rather than require it? In the long run, absolutely! In the short-term, they require an initial investment which many municipalities fail to address in their annual budgets.
Use the Lombardi approach and prepare early to improve your prospects for funding success. This means acting now to ensure that the appropriate funds are available for grant applications and related expenses within your budget.
To learn about the Lombardi Approach To Grant Development.
Before finalizing your annual budget, be sure to review the pressing issues and upcoming projects you’ve already identified within your budget planning process and/or your Comprehensive Plan or Capital Infrastructure Plan. Determine which of these priority projects will require grant funding or loan applications, then:
- Allocate funds for grant writing / loan application services
- Designate funds for grant-matching (where appropriate)
- Allocate funds necessary for grant application documentation (engineering reports, environmental studies, etc.)
IT’S NOT TOO LATE
Waiting to prepare for funding WILL mean lost opportunities. To be the most ideal candidate, your community needs to be prepared well in advance.
There’s still time to include these expenditures in your official budget, and doing so will increase the viability of the projects you’ve already deemed to be priorities for your community in the coming year. So act now to set your community up for funding success.
With a successful track record of partnering with client communities to secure more than $240 million in funding since 2000, Laberge Group has the requisite experience to help you budget for your upcoming grant service funding needs.
To schedule a free consultation about budgeting for funding applications, call Ben Syden at (518) 458-7112 or contact us at clientservices@labergegroup.com